Ragnar's in the bag-nar

Ragnar's in the bag. It's done - can't believe it! It was definitely worth it. In the middle of your run when you're dying on a road in the middle of nowhere you question why in the heck you're doing it, but as soon as you're back in the van laughing with your team and eating food you know why - it's just fun! Like a road trip with your buddies. Of course I had to run it sick - I had a slight sore throat and sinus pressure but didn't think much of it. Each run wiped me out and I felt really sick by the end but I finished and did fine overall. As soon as I got home however the strep throat hit me full blast. I'm just barely feeling myself again and my tonsils have deflated much closer to their original size now thank-goodness. I will emphasize again, it was still worth it. Highlights:

• Leg one: Getting to run at 11 am before the heat of the day hit full blast. Running among the saguaro's in the beautiful desert and hitting my pace almost the whole 7.3 miles.
• Leg two: 11 pm. Running on a rocky off-road trail in the pitch black with nothing but a flimsy headlamp and red blinking route-markers. Sliding down very vertical slopes and wading through sand pits in the same blackness. I kind of bragged beforehand that I actually liked running at night - it was peaceful. This time I was scared. But not scared enough to hate it, only enough to kind of get spooked and think "this is crazy and this is why I'm doing it." 6.4 miles
• Leg three 9.0 miles at 9:00 am. This leg was uphill for two miles then very gradual downhill for seven. The road was very straight and by this point my affected body was feeling it. The mental game got really hard here and I got mad at myself when one of the purple tutu girls passed me (no one dressed in a tutu should ever pass you). The last mile however I told myself I was kicking it up a notch and running more uncomfortably the whole time. That strategy worked well in my half and it worked well here. I passed five people the last mile and felt satisfied. 
• 22.7 miles total. 

Team name: Just D.O. It! Most of the guys or wives on our team were D.O. students/wives at Midwestern

In the midst of the mental battle of my last leg. That's why it looks like I'm speed walking

Two of our teammates were pregnant. Tough girls

My support team. Christian volunteered one of the nights